SOJOURN IN DRESDEN AND LEIPSIC, 1785 — 1792 HAHNEMANN’S APPLICATION FOR THE APPOINTMENT AS MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR DRESDEN.
AMONG the documents of the Health Department in the city hall of Dresden, the following application from Hahnemann is to be found:
Greatly esteemed and noble Sirs, staunch, learned and most wise Guardians of the Law,
It is an especial pleasure to me to offer you may services in then place of the late Dr. Wagner.
I should almost have hesitated to apply for so important an office as that which has become vacant, had it not been that your good will on the one side, and my great inclination for this branch of the profession on the other, had given me courage. My literary work in connection with forensic medicine, and the three years during which I held the post of Medical Officer at Gommern, are proofs of my suitability.
I have the honour to remain, with deep esteem, Your obedient servant, DR. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
It is astonishing that Hahnemann does not mention, in his briefly worded application, that he had already acted for Dr. Wagner for a whole year, during the latter’s illness. He had probably been invited by the authorities to apply for the post of Medical Officer; and as his appointment as locum tenens for the same post previously, had also been with the consent of the authorities, he possibly took it for granted that they were cognisant of the circumstances.
It is further surprising that Hahnemann applies immediately after the death of Dr. Wagner. The reason for this was the prevailing putrid fever, which allowed of no delay in filling this very important post. In the documents in the Health Office of Dresden, of March Ist, 1788, we read:
Owing to the continued prevalence of the putrid fever, it became an immediate necessity to fill the post of Medical Officer of Health, which became vacant on February 21st, through the death of Dr. Wagner.
As mentioned in Volume I, Dr. Johann Georg Eckhardt was chosen. Dresden was not fortunate in the choice of this man, because in the middle of february, 1790, he died, and the post again became vacant.
The post of Medical Officer of Health for Dresden required a physician who possessed an extensive education, as the duties made great demand on his time and energy; for, according to documents in the Health Office, it was part of his official duties to :
(I) Supervise the Masters of Midwifery, the barber-surgeons and the surgeons of the Infirmary.
(2) Be willing to treat the inhabitants of the city; advise and treat the wealthy for a small remuneration, and the poor, out of Christian charity and compassion, for nothing.
(3) To treat and medically supervise the inmates of:
1. The Military supervise the inmates of :
2. The Workhouse
3. The Cross School.
4. The Orphanage,
5. The Prisons.
(4) To render to the ruling Mayor, each month, a record of all patient in the above institutions, together with an accurate statement of the nature of the disease and the condition of the patient.
(5) Make two inspections of the apothecaries’ shops and of the drugs contained therein, both of simple and compound. The Medical Officer of Health is also responsible for seeing that ” the assistants and head men in the apothecaries’ shops undertake to prepare correctly the prescriptions sent to them by the physicians, and that they make a reasonable charge for the medicines.”
(6) Investigate all cases of suicide and undertake all post- mortems, and give his report.
(7) Render to the Municipal Council all reports that are required on criminals.
(8) Supervise all foreign physicians who have to be examined by him. Especially to grant concessions to those who arrive at the time of the fair, for the sale of medicines and to inspect all vendors of medicine and medicaments.
(9) Examine those persons who wish to become midwives or monthly nurses in this city. He must examine them, with the assistance of the Master of Midwifery, to find out if they possess the necessary knowledge and skill; he must supervise the activities of the midwives.
The salary was altogether paltry and inadequate when we consider the duties required of the Medical Officer of Health for Dresden, as outlined in the brief extract given above.
In addition to a free residence — which was magnanimously permitted to sublet — he received 80 guldens a year, divided into four quarterly payments; he was also allowed 12 thalers for fuel and a bonus of 50 thalers. It was hardly possible for a physician with a large family to exist on such a salary, and he was more than likely to be constantly under the pressures of cares for the most necessary commodities. Among the documents in the Dresden Health Officer we find, therefore, a request from a medical officer of that time, Dr. Samuel August Wagner, dated October 7th, 1784, in which he implores the Municipal Council, with almost pathetic appeal, to make an additional grant to his salary; as the prospects for the future loomed almost too black before him, especially as, owing to bad health, he was unable to do much private practice. In this request he says:
The late Mayor Glasewald said to me, when he handed the Office over to me in the name of his noble Councilors, ” I wish that I could congratulate you on something more important. Your future salary is small, yet it is a beginning: do not lose courage, the Councilors will not let their Medical Officer suffer want.”
SUPPLEMENT 16
THE WRITINGS OF HAHNEMANN DURING HIS STAY IN DRESDEN, 1785- 1789 TRANSLATIONS.
1785. Translation of Demachy’s “Art of distilling Liquor.” Leipsic. Two parts. From the French, with additions, 332 pages and 284 pages.
1787. Translation of Demachy’s “The Art of the manufacture of Vinegar.” Leipsic, by Crusius. From the French, with additions and one supplement. 176 pages.
1787. “Signs of the purity and adulterations of drugs,” by B. van den Sanden, chemist in Brussels, and Hahnemann, dresden, by walther. 350 pages.
1789. Translation of the story of Abelard and Heloise. From the English. Leipsic, 638 pages.
HIS OWN WORKS ON CHEMISTRY AND NATURAL HISTORY
1787. “Prejudice against heating with coal, and ways of improving this fuel, etc.” With two copper plates. Dresden, Walther.
1787. Relating to the difficulties in the preparations of mineral alkaline salt by means f potash and kitchen salt. Crell’s Chem. Annals II, Part II, pages 387-396.
1788. The influence of certain gases in the fermentation of wines, Crell’s Chem, Annals, Vol.I, Part 2, pages 141-142.
1788. On the wine test for Iron and Lead. Crell’s Chem. Annals, vol.I, Part. 4, pages 291-306.
1788. Concerning Bile and Gallstones. Crell’s Chem. Annals. Vol.II, Part 10, pages 296-299.
1788. An unusually strong remedy for checking putrefaction. Crell’s Chem. Annals. Vol. II, Part 12, pages 485-486. Translated into French by Cruet.
1789. Unsuccessful experiments with some new discoveries Crell’s Chem. Annals. Vol. I, Part 3, pages 202-207.
1789. Discovery of a new constituent in plumbago. Crell’s Chem. Annals, Vol. II, Part.10, pages 291-298
1789. Observations on the astringent properties of plants. Contribution to the Chem. Annals. Vol.IV.Part 4, pages 419-420
MEDICAL WORKS
1786. On poisoning by Arsenic: Its treatment and forensic detection. Leipsic. Lebrecht Crusius. 276 pages.
1789. Instructions for surgeons on venereal diseases. Leipsic, by Crusius, XIV and 292 pages.
DISCUSSIONS.
“The Manufacturer of Liqueur.” In French, by Messrs, Demachy and Dubuisson, translated and enriched by additions. Leipsic,1785 ( in two parts pages 332 and 284).
Westrumb writes in Crell’s Annals (1792, I, 490.)
SOJOURN IN DRESDEN AND LEIPSIC,1785-1792
Few manufacturers have listened to my suggestions of arranging their alembic as Demachy and Hahnemann suggest. These latter increased the height of the distilling cauldrons, gave to the cauldrons the form of a cone, provided it with a gutter and surrounded it with a blackcap. In this way they saved one-half of their time, one third of the fuel, and furthermore gained considerably more spirit.
All producers who need distilling installations should entirely discard the old Distillery apparatus, and use the French arrangement clearly described by Hahnemann.
Demachy’s “Art of the manufacturer of vinegar.” From the French, published with remarks and a supplement with one copper- plate. Leipsic, 1787, 176 pages.
“The New Medical Literature” by Schlegel and Arnemann, Leipsic, 1788, says (pages 56, 57, 59):
From many poor descriptions on the fitting up of vinegar breweries the writings of Demachy deserve more appreciation: and it is of value that they should have been made known to the Germans by translation, all the more so as Dr. Hahnemann has put the author right on many points. He has also been able to correct errors by annotations. The supplement of Dr. Hahnemann on vinegar brewing, particularly on the vinegar brewed from grain, is as through as it is clear.
Naturally these works must be judged by the standard of scientific knowledge and industry at the end of the eighteenth century. They contain some errors and much that is now obsolete and has been superseded by science and industry, which at that time was very advanced.
Richard Haehl was also an editor and publisher of the homeopathic journal Allgemcine, and other homeopathic publications.
Haehl was responsible for saving many of the valuable artifacts of Samuel Hahnemann and retrieving the 6th edition of the Organon and publishing it in 1921.
Richard Haehl was the author of - Life and Work of Samuel Hahnemann